The codówars have been fought over it, revolutions have been triggered by it, national diets have been based on it, and livelihoods and economies have depended on it. A James Beard Award winner, and the author of The Big Oyster, Salt, and The Food of a Younger Nation, Mark Kurlansky here introduces the explorers, merchants, writers, chefs, and fishermen whose lives have been interwoven with the prolific cod, from the Vikings to Clarence Birdseye. He chronicles the cod wars of the 16th and 20th centuries, blends in recipes and lore from the Middle Ages, and shows how the most profitable fish in history is today faced with extinction.